Have you seen this guitar? Johnny Marr had his £30,000 Gibson guitar stolen. Photograph: Richard Saker

The news broke today that Willie Nelson’s stuffed armadillo was kidnapped during a Las Vegas show earlier this week. Officials at the Westin Lake resort in Henderson, Nevada, reported that the mascot – named Ol' Dillo – vanished while audience members greeted the country singer after a concert. Thankfully, Dillo was returned in a shoebox the next evening by an "apologetic man" who drove up and handed director Matt Boland a shoebox with instructions to return the mascot to Nelson.

Thefts of this kind are nothing new. Here are five more tragic tales of stolen gear and broken hearts.

Sonic Youth – an entire truck full of gear

Back in the late 90s, Sonic Youth suffered a mysterious disappearance. A truck containing all of their gear went missing. It reappeared days later, but empty. Over time, their unique and heavily modified gear began to resurface, thanks to the diligence of followers. A Belgian fan spotted one guitar on eBay; another item popped up in a pawn shop. However, the best story is how a series of guitars were recovered 13 years after they were initially taken, as the band's Lee Ranaldo explained to Pitchfork: “These two scruffy teenage boys came up. They told us they knew about our stolen guitars. One claimed his uncle was involved with stealing the van. We were like, 'Yeah, sure, kid.' But he sent us these anonymous pictures of our gear in basements … We said, 'We'll give you a few hundred dollars each for them.' It did happen.” The moral of the story? Always trust scruffy teenage boys, but never trust their uncles.

Noah and The Whale – gear and toothbrush

Indie-folk band Noah and The Whale were playing the Manchester Academy in 2009 when their kit was stolen. Lead singer Charlie Fink told NME at the time: "We just left the van with the trailer outside our hotel, and got up this morning and the trailer was gone. It literally had every single piece of our equipment in it.” Not only did they lose all their instruments, but an electric toothbrush was also reportedly lost in the theft. The gear was worth more than £100,000, but in 2011 Joseph and Harold Breeze, who helped store and transport the items but were not involved in the theft, were convicted of handling stolen goods. The band were reunited with their equipment after it was found in a Lincolnshire barn. It is not known whether the toothbrush was recovered.

A$AP Rocky – Rolex and cap

A$AP Rocky has been relatively unlucky when it comes to public performances, with the Harlem hip-hop star twice falling foul of thieves in the audience. Back in 2012, Rocky was three-quarters of the way through his set at Camden’s Electric Ballroom in London when someone in the crowd managed to remove his $15,000 Rolex from his wrist. Understandably upset, the A$AP entourage and security took to the stage and somehow managed to recover the timepiece. A$AP Rocky wasn’t so lucky in Germany, however, as a fan at his Dortmund show took his Supreme cap – a possession the star says he owned "from back in the day". The rapper tried to be diplomatic: "I came to party with y'all, give me my hat so I can [continue]. That's a one-of-a-kind hat. We ain't gonna fuck you up, just give me my shit back." The hat never reappeared, so A$AP went home without it.

Johnny Marr – 1964 Gibson SG

Ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr had a spot of bad luck after a London gig with his old band Johnny Marr and the Healers. According to NME, his 1964 Gibson SG was stolen by a guest who was invited backstage. One guitar going missing doesn’t seem so bad compared with Sonic Youth’s entire trailer, but Marr’s guitar was worth £30,000. It was recovered a decade later in the lounge of a 38-year-old fan named Stephen White following a police tip-off. White was remorseful after being sentenced to 200 hours community service, telling the Manchester Evening News: “I’m disgusted with the whole thing. There’s a victim here. I can’t reconcile myself with the behaviour of that night.” Heaven knows Steve’s miserable now.

Arcade Fire – bobblehead

Possibly the strangest theft yet. Playing the Bridgeport, Connecticut leg of their Reflektor tour, Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry had his giant bobblehead mask stolen. He said in a statement that the bobblehead was a “one-of-a-kind piece that is an essential component to our live show”. As the notion of someone in the audience sticking a giant papier-mache head under their jumper is hard to entertain, the band have gone on to think there might have been a mix-up: “Perhaps this is all an innocent mistake and you meant to leave the venue with your own oversized papier-mache rendition of Richard Parry's head?” So, if you happen to see someone wearing a giant papier-mache head of a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, then be sure to contact your local bobblehead recovery station asap.